Parenting Guide: How Obamas Keep Daughters' Lives Normal

As President Barack Obama gets ready for another four years in the White
House, he and wife Michelle are trying their best to keep their
children’s lives private and as normal as possible.

Sasha and Malia Obama, just 7 and 10 when they moved from Chicago to
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. four years ago, are the youngest children to live
in the White House since Caroline and John-John romped in the Oval
Office a half-century ago.

As they grow up before the nation’s eyes, their parents have tried their best to keep their children’s feet on the ground.

They eat dinner together at 6:30 most nights and they do their chores.

“They have a regular life, they’ve got friends and sleepovers and you
know, to them, it’s home,” the First Lady told Jay Leno last year.

Malia, who received a cell phone in 2011, could use it only “on weekends.”

During an appearance on “The View,” the President said that they don’t
let their children watch TV or use their computer except to do homework
during the week.

The First Daugters, now 11 and 14, are still not allowed to use Facebook.

Although being the president's daughters has meant meeting celebrities like Beyonce and Jay-Z, the girls also have to make their beds, and Malia has to do her own laundry."I don't want her to be that kid who is 15 or 16, and (she's saying), 'Oh, I don't know how to do laundry.' I would cringe if she became that kid," Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey last year.

Barack and Michelle Obama put an emphasis on being home for family dinner at 6:30 most days and Malia and Sasha have to adhere to the timelines.

Sasha-called “Sassy” by her mom- is the family’s cutup. She takes
piano lessons and plays basketball (her dad is one of the coaches). In
the past four years, she’s gone from being a bubbly 7-year-old at her
mother’s side to a preteen who can wear her older sister’s elegant
hand-me-downs.Text Courtesy: The New York Daily News

Malia, at 14, is already nearly as tall as her 5-foot-11 mother. An avid
reader, she plays piano and the flute, studies ballet and favors
soccer. She is fast becoming an elegant, model-like young woman whose
taste in clothes now sparks commentary from fashionistas.